Bassinet rocker



Sept. 9, 1952 J. pAULlCH 2,609,863

BASSINET ROCKER @MMM mia/WW @mw Patented Sept. -9, i952 UNITED STATES l PATENT OFFICE n n 27,609,863 j BASSINET ROCKER Joseph Paulich, Koehler, N. Mex. A Application October 28, 1949, Serial No. 124,082

` (ors- 109) e 3 Claims. 1

This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in a bassinet rocker and more specifically pertains to an improved construction of bassinet rocker together with an improved operating means for controlling the speed, time and duration or the rocking motion imparted to the bassinet.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a mechanical bassinet which is especially adapted for use in the home or nursery and which will greatly'augment and enhance the comfort and convenience of infants and their nurses.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bassinet rocker as set forth in the preceeding object, which shall be simple, durable, and inex pensive in its construction, yet highly eiiicient for the purposes intended.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanical bassinet in conformity with the foregoing objects which may be readily disassembled, in which the bassinet may be easily removed from or applied to the rocking means therefor; and wherein the bassinet rocker may be readily collapsed and folded for compact storage and easy transportation. n l

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved bassinet rockerhaving an improved anti-friction means for supporting a bassinet carriage upon a base,together with guide meansforretaining the carriage upon the base and accompanied by improved, controllable operatingmeans for imparting a reciprocatory sliding movement to the bassinet carriage.

These, together with variousI ancillary features and objects of nthe invention, which will later become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view oi the improved bassinet rocker, showing a bassinet secured thereto, and showing in dotted lines the ex" tremes of movement of the bassinet and its `rocking carriage;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the rocking device showing the position of the rocking carriage in one position in its reciprocation;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the position of the bassinet rocking carriage in its other extreme position of movement;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional detail View showing the bassinet rocking carriage and the supporting base therefor, Ytogether with the op# erating meansfor imparting a rocking motion to the carriage;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional detail view taken substantially Vupon the plane of the section line 5--5 of Figure 3 and illustrating the bearing races forV slidably journaling the carriage upon the base;

' Figure 6 is a vertical transverse sectional detail view taken substantially upon the plane oi the section line 6-6 of Figure 3 and illustrating the construction of the bearing races in the carriage and in the base of the rocker, together with a guiding and retaining means forming a part thereof; l

Figure 'l is a vertical sectional detail View showing the manner in which a bassinet may be mounted upon the carriage; and,

Figure 8 is a fragmentary plan view of the lower portion and undersurface of the bassinet showing further details of the means forI securing the same to a carriage.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, attention is directed primarily to Figure 1 wherein there is disclosed a suitable platform or supporting base indicated generally by the numeral Iii and which may be of any desired construction, and which is preferably of rectangular shape and has downwardly extending lugs I2 at each of its four corners to which are pivotally secured as by pivots hi, a supporting leg I6. A folding brace i8 of any desired construction and having a pivot 2li intermediate its extremities, is terminally pivoted as at 22 and 24 to the base l0 and to each of the legs l, whereby in a manner well under# stood in the art, each of the legs I6 may be folded together with the collapsible brace or against the undersurface of the base I.

A carriage assembly indicated generally by the numeral 25, which may be likewise of any desired and suitable construction, and likewise preferably of substantially rectangular shape is mounted upon and slidably supported upon the base lll and guided thereon for reciprocating motion in a manner to be subsequently described.

A bassinet 28 consisting of a bottom wall 3B and an appropriately shaped side wall 32, is supported upon and secured to the carriage 25. For this purpose, each of the four corners of the carriage 26 is provided with a recess or socket 34 for the reception of downwardly extending projections or dowel pins 36 which depend from the bottom wall 3i] of the bassinet, whereby the latter may be securely positioned upon the carriage and fastened thereon against sliding movement relative theretd- To further insure the bassinet will be secured to the carriage, suitable straps 38 3 are attached to rings 4U carried at the ends of the bassinet, and the corresponding rings 42 secured to the carriage 26. By this means, the bassinet is iirmly and securely,. but detachably cesses 44 and 46 which are co-extensive and,

which are disposed in opposing walls of the carriage 26 and the base l0 at opposite ends of the sides of these members. these recesses are preferably of rectangular cross section and are provided with bearing races 48 and 50 respectively in the form of blocks or the like which upon their adjacent surfaces are provided with troughs 52 and 54 which constitute bearing races for receiving and retaining therebetween a ball bearing 56 which may comprise an ordinary marble or any other suitable anti-friction bearing member. One such anti-friction member is provided for each of the pairs of complementary bearing races, and as will be apparent from Figure 5, the end walls of the recesses or sockets 44 and 46, together with the opposing side walls of the bearing troughs 52 and 54 of the bearing races comprise means which prevent removal of the anti-friction member from the bearing race assembly. It will thus be seen that by this arrangement the carriage 26 is slidably mounted upon the base l0 for reicprooatory motion lengthwise thereof, the amplitude of this motion being positively limited by the engagement of the ends of the upper and lower bearing recesses with the interposed anti-friction bearing member.

However, while the side walls of the bearing troughs 52 and 54 engaging the anti-friction member 56 will prevent relative lateral displacement of the carriage with respect to the base IE, an additional retaining means is provided, consisting of a bracket member 58 rigidly attached to the carriage as by a bolt or rivet 60, this bearing member extending over the exterior side walls of the carriage and base members and having a horizontally disposed portion 62 underlying the base I6, at each of the bearing members. By this means, the carriage is positively prevented against lateral displacement from the base member, even in the absence of the anti-friction bearing assembly; and is prevented from vertical disengagement from the base member by means of the underlying arm 64 of the bracket. The bracket is thus carried by and mounted upon the carriage member and has sliding movement along the side wall and undersurface of the base member,

As so far described, it will be readily app-arent that the carriage member and the bassinet may be readily given an oscillating or reciprooatory sliding movement upon the stationary base by the hands of the nurse or other attendant, as desired, and if desired, a spring could be provided for yieldingly urging the carriage to one extreme of its path of travel. However, it is preferred to provide a power operating means for automatically imparting a controlled motion to cause reciprccation of the carriage.

This mechanism conveniently comprises an electric motor :66 suitably mounted as by fasteningbolts 68 to vertically disposed frame member i6 extending transversely of the base I0 as shown As shown ln Figure 6,`

in Figure 4, the motor being thus carried by the stationary base and being disposed immediately below the reciprooatory carriage.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the armature 'I2 of the motor has a wheel or drum 14 mounted thereon, which in turn is provided with a crank pin 16 eccentric with respect thereto. This armature may be appropriately termed a power shaft, and obviously in place of the electric motor for operating the same a hand crank or the like could be provided if desired. J ournaled upon the crank pin 16 is a connecting rod consisting of a pair of sections 'I8 and 80 which are pivotally connected toV each other as at 82, and are terminally connected to the crank pin 16 and by means of a pivot pin 84 to a lever 86 intermediate its ends, this lever being terminally pivoted as at 88 to a frame member 90 extending transversely of the carriage 26. (See Figure 4.)

The other end of the lever 86 is likewise pivoted as at 92 to a second connecting rod 94 Whose other end is pivoted as at 96 to a transversely extending frame member 98, intermediate the ends of the latter, this frame member being in turn carried by the carriage 26.

As will be seen by reference to Figure 4, the sectional connecting rod consisting of the members 'I8 and 80 must connect the power shaft and the lever which lie in diiferent horizontal planes. For this purpose, the section consists of parallel end portions ID and |02 which are joined by a vertically inclined portion |64.

It will now be seen that upon rotation of the motor 66, and of the power shaft 'I2 and the crank pin 16, the sectional connecting rod willr impart an oscillating motion to the' lever 86 by means of its pivoting connection 84 therewith. The end of the lever 92 will in turn impart a reciprooatory motion to the pivot 96 and consequently to the carriage member.

Obviously, the linkage connecting the power shaft 'i2 with the carriage 26 willl positively limit the extent of reciprooatory movement imparted to the carriage. Although the invention is by no means limited thereto, it has been found that a convenient amount of movement is a three and a half inch travel from the dead center position of the carriage, making a total of seven inches of movement imparted to the carriage and consequently to the bassinet from the positions at opposite extremes of the path of travel.

It is within the purview of this invention tov actuate the electric motor by any desired'circuit, not shown, from any suitable source of power, and -to control the operation of the motor in various known manners. For example, a suitable rheostat may be incorporated into the circuit for selectively controlling the speed of rotation of the motor and consequently, the speed of the reciprooatory movement imparted to the bassinet.

At the same time, or as an alternate thereto, a time control mechanism may be provided for energizing the motor circuit, whereby the bassinet will be caused to begin a reciprooatory motion at any desired time, and to continue the same for any desired duration of time.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device together with its many advantages will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary.

However, since numerous modications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specication and accompanying drawings, it is not invention, what is -tions of their opposing walls, a bearing member received between said troughs, the length of sliding movement of said carriage on said base being limited by the length of said troughs, brackets on said carriage engaging the underside of said base to prevent vertical movements therebetween, operating means mounted on said base and operatively connected to said carriage effecting sliding movement of said carriage.

2. A bassinet rocker comprising a substantially rectangular base, a carriage superposed on said base and mounted for sliding movement thereon, a loassinet detachably secured to said carriage and slidable therewith, said carriage and said base having closed end troughs in adjacent portions of their opposing walls, a bearing member received between said troughs, the length of sliding movement of said carriage on said base being limited by the length of said troughs, brackets on said carriage engaging the underside of said base to prevent Vertical movement therebetween, operating means mounted on said base and operatively connected to said carriage effecting sliding movement of said carriage, said operating means including a rotatable power shaft and means for operating said shaft a connecting rod terminally pivoted to the other end of said lever and to said carriage and driving means connecting said power shaft to said lever intermediate its ends, said driving means comprising a crank on said power shaft, a connecting rod journaled on said crank and said lever, said last connecting rod comprising pivoted sections.

3. A bassinet rocker comprising a substantially rectangular base, a carriage superposed on said base and mounted for sliding movement thereon, means on said carriage for detachably securing a bassinet thereto, said carriage and said base having closed end troughs in adjacent portions of their opposing Walls, a bearing member received between said troughs, the length of sliding movement of said carriage on said base being limited by the length of said troughs, brackets on said carriage engaging the underside of said base to prevent vertical movement therebetween, operating means mounted on said base and operatively connected to said carriage eiecting sliding movement of said carriage.

JOSEPH PAULICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

